1859

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Today in History 06/15/17

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King John of England signs the Magna Carta at Runnymede near Windsor, in an artwork engraved by Davenport and drawn by T. H. Jones (© Rischgitz/Getty Images)(1215) King John concedes absolute power and puts it in writing
Absolute monarchical power comes to an end when a beleaguered King John formally agrees to respect the feudal privileges of England’s nobility. Belief that this Magna Carta strengthens individual liberty will greatly influence the American Constitution and the development of modern democracies.
Magna Carta Libertatum, commonly called Magna Carta, is a charter agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury to make peace between the unpopular King and a group of rebel barons, it promised the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment, access to swift justice, and limitations on feudal payments to the Crown, to be implemented through a council of 25 barons. Neither side stood behind their commitments, and the charter was annulled by Pope Innocent III, leading to the First Barons’ War. After John’s death, the regency government of his young son, Henry III, reissued the document in 1216, stripped of some of its more radical content, in an unsuccessful bid to build political support for their cause. At the end of the war in 1217, it formed part of the peace treaty agreed at Lambeth, where the document acquired the name Magna Carta, to distinguish it from the smaller Charter of the Forest which was issued at the same time. Short of funds, Henry reissued the charter again in 1225 in exchange for a grant of new taxes; his son, Edward I, repeated the exercise in 1297, this time confirming it as part of England’s statute law.
Magna Carta (British Library Cotton MS Augustus II.106)

wiki/Magna_Carta
The English Camp of the Pig War, San Juan Island, Washington State (© Norman Barrett/Alamy)(1859) Two world powers send military forces to solve pig problem
One pig is shot but no people perish in a conflict that proves the necessity of precisely worded territorial treaties. The Pig War begins between British Canada and the US near the San Juan Islands when an ostensibly British-Canadian pig is found rooting for tubers on a supposedly American farm.
The Pig War was a confrontation in 1859 between the United States and Great Britain over the Canada–U.S. border in the San Juan Islands, between Vancouver Island and the mainland. The Pig War, so called because it was triggered by the shooting of a pig, is also called the Pig Episode, the Pig and Potato War, the San Juan Boundary Dispute or the Northwestern Boundary Dispute. With no shots exchanged and no human casualties, this dispute was a bloodless conflict.
Date: 1859
PigWar Boundaries

wiki/Pig_War_(1859)
Time-lapse photographs by Edweard Muybridge of a man riding a galloping horse (© ullstein bild/Getty Images)(1878) Dawn of the movies as Muybridge stops time with his camera
Leland Stanford is fairly certain that when a horse gallops there is a moment when all four of its legs leave the ground. He hires photographer Eadweard Muybridge who takes pioneering stop-motion photographs, proving that horses can indeed become airborne for a split second, and the innovative images will mark the dawn of motion pictures.
Eadweard Muybridge was an English photographer important for his pioneering work in photographic studies of motion, and early work in motion-picture projection. He adopted the name Eadweard Muybridge, believing it to be the original Anglo-Saxon form of his name.
Born: Apr 09, 1830 · Kingston upon Thames, United Kingdom
Died: May 08, 1904 · Kingston upon Thames, United Kingdom
Spouse: Flora Shallcross Stone (m. 1872 – 1875)
Inventions: Film
Children: Florado Helios Muybridge (Son)
Parents: Susan Muggeridge (Mother) · John Muggeridge
Highlights
  • 1872: In 1872, Muybridge married 21-year-old Flora Shallcross Stone.

  • 1874: In 1874, Muybridge discovered that a drama critic known as Major Harry Larkyns might have fathered Flora’s seven-month-old son Florado.

  • 1875: While travelling on a photography expedition in the Spanish-speaking nations of Central America in 1875, the photographer advertised his works under the name “Eduardo Santiago Muybridge” in Guatemala.

  • 1877: Today, Muybridge is known for his pioneering work on animal locomotion in 1877 and 1878, which used multiple cameras to capture motion in stop-motion photographs, and his zoopraxiscope, a device for projecting motion pictures that pre-dated the flexible perforated film strip used in cinematography.

  • 1878: In 1878, Muybridge made a famous 13-part 360° photographic panorama of San Francisco, to be presented to the wife of Leland Stanford.

  • 1904: Muybridge died on 8 May 1904 in Kingston upon Thames of prostate cancer at the home of his cousin Catherine Smith.

wiki/Eadweard_Muybridge
Ulrike Meinhof in the editorial office of the political magazine 'Konkret,' circa 1960 (© Max Ehlert/ullstein bild/Getty Images)(1972) Infamous German radical arrested
Former journalist Ulrike Meinhof is caught by police two years after helping form the Red Army Faction, a violent leftist organization considered a terrorist group. Her subsequent murder trial and the controversy surrounding her apparent jail-cell suicide will transfix Europe.
Ulrike Marie Meinhof was a German left-wing militant. She co-founded the Red Army Faction in 1970, after having worked as a journalist for the monthly left-wing magazine konkret. She was arrested in 1972, charged with numerous murders and the formation of a criminal association. In 1976, before the trial concluded, Meinhof was found hanged in her prison cell.
Born: Oct 07, 1934 · Oldenburg, Germany Died: May 09, 1976 · Stuttgart, Germany Founded: Red Army Faction Movies: Children of the Revolution Parents: Werner Meinhof (Father)
Highlights
  • 1936: In 1936, her family moved to Jena when her father, art historian Dr. Werner Meinhof, became director of the city’s museum.

  • 1940: Her father died of cancer in 1940, causing her mother to take in a boarder, Renate Riemeck, to make money.

  • 1958: In 1958, she spent a short time on the AStA (German: Allgemeiner Studierendenausschuss, or General Committee of Students) of the university and wrote articles for various student newspapers.

  • 1961: In 1961, she married the co-founder and publisher of konkret, Klaus Rainer Röhl.

  • 1970: She co-founded the Red Army Faction (Rote Armee Fraktion) in 1970 after having previously worked as a journalist for the monthly left-wing magazine konkret.

  • 1972: In December 1972, Meinhof, who was awaiting trial, was called to testify at Horst Mahler’s trial where Mahler questioned her about the statement of support the two had issued for the September 1972 massacre of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics.

wiki/Ulrike_Meinhof
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Today in History 05/31/17

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Statue depicting the pharaoh Ramses II, Abu Simbel, Egypt (© Prisma/UIG/Getty Images)(1279 BCE) A great pharaoh takes the Egyptian throne
A reign that will last 66 years begins, as Ramesses II becomes Pharaoh of Egypt under the 19th Dynasty. He will go on a building spree of massive proportions, soundly defeat many enemies, bolster his kingdom’s economy and territory, and live an impressive 90 or so years.
Ramesses II, also known as Ramesses the Great and Ozymandias, was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. He often is regarded as the greatest, most celebrated, and most powerful pharaoh of the Egyptian Empire. His successors and later Egyptians called him the “Great Ancestor”. Ramesses II led several military expeditions into the Levant, reasserting Egyptian control over Canaan. He also led expeditions to the south, into Nubia, commemorated in inscriptions at Beit el-Wali and Gerf Hussein.
Lived: 1303 BC – 1213
Height: 5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
Spouse: Bintanath · Nefertari · Isetnofret · Nebettawy · Henutmire · Maathorneferure
Buried: KV7 · Deir el-Bahari
Children: Merneptah (Son) · Bintanath (Daughter) · Ramesses (Son) · Amun-her-khepeshef (Son) · Meryatum (Son) · Khaemweset (Son) · Pareherwenemef (Son) · Nebettawy (Daughter) · Meritamen (Daughter) · Sethi (Son) · Henuttawy (Daughter) · Isetnofret II (Daughter) · Ramesses-Meryamun-Nebweben (Son) · Simentu (Son) · Meryre (Son)
Parents: Seti I (Father) · Tuya (Mother)

wiki/Ramesses_II
The Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace on the Thames Embankment, London, circa 1865 (© Otto Herschan/Getty Images)(1859) London’s parliament building gets a really large timepiece
Set 316 feet above the Houses of Parliament, a new clock looks out over London, calibrated twice daily with Greenwich Observatory to ensure exact timekeeping. The booming chimes from its 13.5-ton ‘Big Ben’ bell, and its four 23-foot-diameter clock faces, will come to symbolize London.
Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London and is usually extended to refer to both the clock and the clock tower as well. The tower is officially known as Elizabeth Tower, renamed to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 2012; previously, it was known simply as the Clock Tower.
Address: Bridge St, Westminster, London SW1A 0AA
Phone: 020 7219 4272
Opened: 1859
Height: 316 feet (96.30 m) (Architectural)
Architect: Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin
Architectural style: Gothic Revival architecture

wiki/Big_Ben
Survivors stand by homes destroyed when the South Fork Dam collapsed on May 31, 1889 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania (© AP Photo)(1889) 20 million tons of water wipes out Johnstown, Pennsylvania
A deluge of rainfall and a deteriorating dam lead to one of America’s worst disasters when the South Fork Dam breaks apart above Johnstown, Pennsylvania, releasing a torrent of destruction. A 60-foot-high wall of water and debris half a mile wide roars 14 miles downriver, killing 2,209.
The Johnstown Flood occurred on May 31, 1889, after the catastrophic failure of the South Fork Dam on the Little Conemaugh River 14 miles upstream of the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The dam broke after several days of extremely heavy rainfall, releasing 14.55 million cubic meters of water from the reservoir known as Lake Conemaugh. With a volumetric flow rate that temporarily equaled that of the Mississippi River, the flood killed 2,209 people and caused US$17 million of damage.
Fatalities: 2,200
Date: May 31, 1889

wiki/Johnstown_Flood
Soldiers digging trenches during the 2nd Boer War in South Africa circa 1900 (© SSPL/Getty Images)(1902) UK claims more of South Africa after bloody Boer War
The 20th century’s first large-scale international conflict ends when the British Empire claims victory over the South African Republic and the Orange Free State in South Africa. Tens of thousands of human lives were lost, and an astounding 300,000 horses perished, in the Second Boer War.
The Second Boer War, usually known as the Boer War and also at the time as the South African War, started on 11 October 1899 and ended on 31 May 1902. Great Britain defeated two Boer states in South Africa: the South African Republic and the Orange Free State. Britain was aided by its Cape Colony, the Colony of Natal and some native African allies. The British war effort was further supported by volunteers from the British Empire, including Southern Africa, the Australian colonies, Canada, India and New Zealand. All other nations were neutral, but public opinion in them was largely hostile to Britain. Inside Britain and its Empire there also was significant opposition to the Second Boer War.
Start date: Oct 11, 1899
End date: May 31, 1902

wiki/Second_Boer_War
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Today in History 04/05/17

Painting depicting the marriage ceremony of John Rolfe to Pocahontas in 1614 (© Kean Collection/Getty Images)(1614) Pocahontas and John Rolfe marry
Pocahontas, daughter of the Powhatan tribal chief, marries John Rolfe, an English tobacco farmer from Jamestown, Virginia. Native Americans and Virginia’s governor both bless the union, and it will lead to a period of peace.
Pocahontas (Native American Princess)Pocahontas was a Native American woman notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. Pocahontas was the daughter of Powhatan, the paramount chief of a network of tributary tribal nations in the Tsenacommacah, encompassing the Tidewater region of Virginia. In a well-known historical anecdote, she is said to have saved the life of a captive of the Native Americans, the Englishman John Smith, in 1607 by placing her head upon his own when her father raised his war club to execute him. Some historians have suggested that this story, as told by Smith, is untrue.
Born: 1596 · Werowocomoco, VA
Died: Mar 1617 · Gravesend, United Kingdom
Spouse: John Rolfe (m. 1614 – 1617)
Children: Thomas Rolfe (Son)
Parents: Powhatan (Father)
Highlights
  • 1607: Pocahontas is most famously linked to the English colonist Captain John Smith, who arrived in Virginia with a hundred other settlers in April 1607, at the behest of the London Company.

  • 1613: Current Mattaponi tradition holds that Pocahontas’s first husband was Kocoum, brother of the Patawomeck weroance Japazaws, and that Kocoum was killed by the English after his wife’s capture in 1613.

  • 1614: Pocahontas, Alias Matoaka, and Her Descendants Through Her Marriage at Jamestown, Virginia, in April, 1614, with John Rolfe, Gentleman, Wyndham Robertson, Printed by J. W. Randolph & English, Richmond, Va., 1887

  • 1614: She married him on April 5, 1614.

  • 1615: Pocahontas and her husband, John Rolfe, had one child, Thomas Rolfe, who was born in January 1615.

  • 1617: In 1617, the Rolfes set sail for Virginia, but Pocahontas died at Gravesend of unknown causes.

wiki/Pocahontas
John RolfeJohn Rolfe was one of the early English settlers of North America. He is credited with the first successful cultivation of tobacco as an export crop in the Colony of Virginia and is known as the husband of Pocahontas, daughter of the chief of the Powhatan.
Born: 1585 · Heacham, United Kingdom
Died: 1622 · Varina Plantation, VA
Spouse: Jane Pierce (m. 1619 – 1622) · Pocahontas (m. 1614 – 1617)
Children: Thomas Rolfe (Son) · Elizabeth Rolfe (Daughter)
Parents: Dorothea Mason (Mother) · John Rolfe Sr. (Father)
Highlights
  • 1609: Smith’s Fort was a secondary Fort to Jamestown, begun in 1609 by John Smith.

  • 1612: In 1612, Rolfe established Varina Farms, a plantation along the James River about 30 miles (50 km) upstream from Jamestown, and across the river from Sir Thomas Dale’s progressive development at Henricus.

  • 1614: Rolfe married Pocahontas, daughter of the local Native American leader Powhatan, on 5 April 1614.

  • 1615: John and Rebecca Rolfe travelled to England on the Treasurer, commanded by Samuel Argall, in 1615 with their young son.

  • 1619: In 1619, Rolfe married Jane Pierce, daughter of the English colonist Captain William Pierce.

  • 1622: Rolfe died in 1622 and his widow Jane married Englishman Captain Roger Smith three years later.

wiki/John_Rolfe
File photo of statues on Easter Island (© Carlos Barria/Reuters)(1772) Dutch explorers land on remote Easter Island
On this Easter Sunday, 3,000 miles from the nearest continental land, Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen finds a 63-square-mile island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean. Towering stone statues mystify these first European visitors and others for centuries to come.
Easter Island is a Chilean island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle. Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapa Nui people. In 1995, UNESCO named Easter Island a World Heritage Site, with much of the island protected within Rapa Nui National Park.
Population: 6,600 (2016)
Area: 63.17 sq miles (163.60 km²)
Travel tip: Located in the South Pacific more than 2,000 miles off the Chilean coast, Easter Island’s not the easiest place to reach. (If you’re interested, the easiest access is by air from … @tripadvisor
Location: Pacific Ocean
Capital: Hanga Roa
Governor: Melania Hotu
Easter Island Map

wiki/Easter_Island
British naturalist Charles Darwin, circa 1854 (© Maull & Fox/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)(1859) Darwin’s groundbreaking work sent to publishers
English scientist Charles Darwin delivers the first three chapters of his new work, ‘On the Origin of Species,’ to publishers. Controversy will follow publication of his study of evolutionary biology, but so too do robust book sales, and the Darwin’s work will revolutionize the study of life on Earth.
On the Origin of Species, published on 24 November 1859, is a work of scientific literature by Charles Darwin which is considered to be the foundation of evolutionary biology. Darwin’s book introduced the scientific theory that populations evolve over the course of generations through a process of natural selection. It presented a body of evidence that the diversity of life arose by common descent through a branching pattern of evolution. Darwin included evidence that he had gathered on the Beagle expedition in the 1830s and his subsequent findings from research, correspondence, and experimentation.
Author: Charles Darwin
First published: Nov 24, 1859
Number of pages: 502
Genre: Science
Followed by: Fertilisation of Orchids

wiki/On_the_Origin_of_Species
Kurt Cobain of Nirvana performs in December 1993 at Pier 28 in Seattle, Washington (© Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc/Getty Images)(1994) Kurt Cobain dies of apparent suicide
At the height of his popular success, Kurt Cobain, lead singer and driving force behind the rock group Nirvana, dies from a shotgun blast. His body won’t be discovered for another three days, and although forensic analysis will suggest Cobain committed suicide, some will question that determination.
Kurt Donald Cobain was an American musician, artist, songwriter, guitarist and poet. Born in Aberdeen, Washington, Cobain formed the band Nirvana with Krist Novoselic in 1987 and established it as part of the Seattle music scene and grunge genre. Nirvana’s debut album Bleach was released on the independent record label Sub Pop in 1989.
Lived: Feb 20, 1967 – Apr 05, 1994 (age 27)
Height: 5′ 10″ (1.77 m)
Spouse: Courtney Love (m. 1992 – 1994)
Children: Frances Bean Cobain (Daughter)
Member of: Nirvana · Fecal Matter · Sellouts · Stiff Woodies · Brown Towel · Pen Cap Chew · TedEdFred · Electrifiedshitfuck · Bliss · Skid Row
Parents: Wendy Cobain (Mother) · Donald Cobain (Father)

wiki/Kurt_Cobain
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Today in History 11/24/16

Today in History
(1859) Darwin’s pioneering study on evolution is published
1859 British naturalist Charles Darwin publishes his groundbreaking scientific work that introduces the theory that species gradually evolve via “natural selection” to best survive in their environment. Darwin’s work will have enormous impact on the scientific community, but also in social and religious quarters. .

On the Origin of Species, published on 24 November 1859, is a work of scientific literature by Charles Darwin which is considered to be the foundation of evolutionary biology. Darwin’s book introduced the scientific theory that populations evolve over the course of generations through a process of natural selection. It presented a body of evidence that the diversity of life arose by common descent through a branching pattern of evolution. Darwin included evidence that he had gathered on the Beagle expedition in the 1830s and his subsequent findings from research, correspondence, and experimentation.

Author: Charles Darwin
First published: Nov 24, 1859
Genres: Science · Biology · Treatise
Followed by: Fertilisation of Orchids

— Source: wiki/On_the_Origin_of_Species
(1963) Jack Ruby kills accused assassin Lee Harvey Oswald
Dallas nightclub owner Ruby fires a single shot and mortally wounds Oswald as police move the accused assassin through a basement in front of gathered press and witnesses. The entire incident is captured on live TV. Oswald had been in custody for the murder of President John F. Kennedy two days before. . 1963

Jack Ruby

Jack RubyJack Leon Ruby was an American citizen from Chicago, Illinois, who worked as a nightclub operator in the city of Dallas, Texas. On November 24, 1963, he fatally shot Lee Harvey Oswald while the latter was in police custody after being charged with assassinating U.S. President John F. Kennedy two days earlier. A Dallas jury found him guilty of murdering Oswald, and Ruby later received the death penalty. Later, Ruby appealed his conviction, had it overturned and was granted a new trial. However, on January 3, 1967, as the date for his new trial was being set, Ruby became ill in his prison cell and died of a pulmonary embolism from lung cancer.

Born: Mar 25, 1911 · Chicago, IL
Died: Jan 03, 1967 · Dallas, TX
Buried: Westlawn Cemetery
Siblings: Marion Rubenstein (Sister) · Earl Rubenstein (Brother) · Eileen Rubenstein (Sister) · Sam Rubenstein (Brother) · Hyman Rubenstein (Brother) · Ann Rubenstein (Sister) · Eva Rubenstein (Sister)

Highlights

  • 1911: Jack Ruby was born Jacob Leon Rubenstein on March 25, 1911 in Chicago, the son of Fannie Turek Rutkowski (or Rokowsky) and Joseph Rubenstein (1871–1958), both Polish-born, Orthodox Jews.

  • 1946: In 1946, Tony Accardo allegedly asked Jack Ruby to go to Texas with Mafia associates Pat Manno and Romie Nappi to make sure that Dallas County Sheriff Steve Gutherie would acquiesce to the Mafia’s expansion into Dallas.

  • 1960: In the Hulu series 11.22.63, Jack Ruby is shown as a nightclub owner in 1960 Dallas played by Antoni Corone.

  • 1963: On November 24, 1963, Ruby fatally shot Lee Harvey Oswald, who was in police custody after being charged with the assassination of John F. Kennedy two days earlier.

  • 1963: Joe Campisi and his wife visited with Jack Ruby in jail for ten minutes on November 30, 1963.

  • 1966: Eventually, the appellate court agreed with Ruby’s lawyers for a new trial, and on October 5, 1966, ruled that his motion for a change of venue before the original trial court should have been granted.

— Source: wiki/Jack_Ruby

Lee Harvey Oswald

Lee Harvey OswaldLee Harvey Oswald was an American sniper who assassinated President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. According to five U.S. government investigations, Oswald shot and killed Kennedy as he traveled by motorcade through Dealey Plaza in the city of Dallas, Texas.

Lived: Oct 18, 1939 – Nov 24, 1963 (age 24)
Height: 5′ 10″ (1.78 m)
Spouse: Marina Oswald Porter (m. 1961 – 1963)
Children: June Lee Oswald (Daughter) · Audrey Marina Rachel Oswald (Daughter)
Parents: Robert Edward Lee Oswald, Sr. (Father) · Marguerite Frances Claverie (Mother)

Highlights

  • 1939: Oswald was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on October 18, 1939, to World War I veteran Robert Edward Lee Oswald, Sr. (1896 – 1939) and Marguerite Frances Claverie (1907 – 1981).

  • 1955: As a teenager, in 1955, Oswald attended Civil Air Patrol meetings in New Orleans.

  • 1956: In July 1956, Oswald’s mother moved the family to Fort Worth, Texas, and Oswald re-enrolled in the 10th grade for the September session at Arlington Heights High School in Fort Worth.

  • 1956: Like all Marines, Oswald was trained and tested in shooting and he scored 212 in December 1956, slightly above the requirements for the designation of sharpshooter.

  • 1961: From approximately June 1960 to February 1961, Oswald had a relationship with Ella German, a co-worker at the factory.

  • 1961: Lee Harvey Oswald married Marina Oswald Porter on April 30, 1961.

— Source: wiki/Lee_Harvey_Oswald
(1971) Hijacker jumps out of plane in a thunderstorm and disappears
1971 Having hijacked a Northwest Airlines flight, ‘D. B. Cooper’ parachutes out of the plane while flying over rural Washington State with $200,000 in ransom. Wearing a suit and raincoat, he jumps at least 10,000 feet into 100 mph winds and freezing temperatures. A massive search will find no trace of Cooper nor reveal his identity..

D. B. Cooper is a media epithet popularly used to refer to an unidentified man who hijacked a Boeing 727 aircraft in the airspace between Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington, on November 24, 1971, extorted $200,000 in ransom, and parachuted to an uncertain fate. Despite an extensive manhunt and protracted FBI investigation, the perpetrator has never been located or identified. The case remains the only unsolved air piracy in American aviation history.

Height: 5′ 11″ (1.80 m)

— Source: wiki/D._B._Cooper
(1991) Rock star Freddie Mercury dies of AIDS-related pneumonia
Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of popular rock band Queen, dies at 45. The day before he had released a statement saying that he had AIDS, after years of being dogged by rumors about his frail appearance. He called on fans to help join the ‘fight against this terrible disease.’. 1991

Freddie Mercury was a British singer, songwriter and record producer, known as the lead vocalist and co-principal songwriter of the rock band Queen. He also became known for his flamboyant stage persona and four-octave vocal range. Mercury wrote and composed numerous hits for Queen; occasionally served as a producer and guest musician for other artists; and concurrently led a solo career while performing with Queen.

Lived: Sep 05, 1946 – Nov 24, 1991 (age 45)
Height: 5′ 10″ (1.77 m)
Partner: Jim Hutton (1985 – 1991) · Mary Austin (1970 – 1976)
Member of: Queen · Ibex · Sour Milk Sea · The Hectics
Parents: Jer Bulsara (Mother) · Bomi Bulsara (Father)
Siblings: Kashmira Cooke (Sister)

— Source: wiki/Freddie_Mercury
— IMDB: www.imdb.com/name/nm0006198/bio
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Today in History

Today in History
(1859) An abolitionist attacks an armory at Harpers Ferry
1859 Inspired by his anti-slavery beliefs, and enraged by pro-slavery violence, abolitionist John Brown launches an armed assault on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Brown and his small band of supporters is no match for the US Marines that will be called out against him..

John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry was an effort by white abolitionist John Brown to initiate an armed slave revolt in 1859 by taking over a United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Brown’s raid, accompanied by 21 men in his party, was defeated by a company of U.S. Marines from the Marine Barracks, 8th And I, Washington, DC, led by First Lieutenant Israel Greene, USMC. Colonel Robert E. Lee, USA, was in overall command of the operation to retake the arsenal. John Brown had originally asked Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass, both of whom he had met in his formative years as an abolitionist in Springfield, Massachusetts, to join him in his raid, but Tubman was prevented by illness, and Douglass declined, as he believed Brown’s plan would fail.

Start date: Oct 16, 1859
End date: Oct 18, 1859

— Source: wiki/John_Brown’s_raid_on_Harpers_Ferry
(1916) Margaret Sanger’s first family planning clinic opens
America’s first family planning clinic opens in Brooklyn, New York, breaking that state’s laws by dispensing birth control and educating patients on contraception. The clinic’s founder, nurse Margaret Sanger, will be arrested nine days later, and become known as a birth control pioneer.. 1916

Against the State, against the Church, against the silence of the medical profession, against the whole machinery of dead institutions of the past, the woman of today arises.

Lived: Sep 14, 1879 – Sep 06, 1966 (age 86)
Spouse: James Noah (m. 1922 – 1943) · William Sanger (m. 1902 – 1921)
Founded: Planned Parenthood · American Birth Control League · International Planned Parenthood Federation
Children: Stuart Sanger (Son) · Grant Sanger (Son)
Parents: Anne Purcell Higgins (Mother) · Michael Hennessy Higgins (Father)
Movies: Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed · Birth Control

— Source: wiki/Margaret_Sanger
(1949) East and West end a struggle in Greece
1949 Four years after the Second World War ended in Europe, a kind of peace finally arrives in Greece. A civil war, pitting the US- and UK-supported Greek government against the Communist-led Democratic Army comes to a standstill as a cease-fire is called in the first of the post-WWII proxy wars..

The Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek government army, backed by the United Kingdom and the United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece, the military branch of the Greek Communist Party, backed by Yugoslavia and Albania as well as Bulgaria. The result was the defeat of the Communist insurgents by the government forces. Founded by the Communist Party of Greece and funded by Communist nations such as Yugoslavia, many of the insurgents operating within the Democratic Army of Greece were partisans who had fought against German and Italian occupation forces during the Second World War.

Start date: Dec 1944
End date: Oct 16, 1949

— Source: wiki/Greek_Civil_War
(1987) Britain hit with devastating, unexpected storm
Expecting only minor trouble on the south coast, most Britons are shocked when a deadly cyclone packing hurricane-force winds slams into England with gusts as high as 122-mph that uproot trees, tear buildings apart, cause £2 billion of damage, and kill 22. . 1987

The Great Storm of 1987 was a violent extratropical cyclone that occurred on the night of 15–16 October, with hurricane-force winds causing casualties in England, France and the Channel Islands as a severe depression in the Bay of Biscay moved northeast. Among the most damaged areas were Greater London, the East Anglian coast, the Home Counties, the west of Brittany and the Cotentin Peninsula of Normandy which weathered gusts typically with a return period of 1 in 200 years.

Forests, parks, roads and railways were strewn with fallen trees as well as schools being closed. The British National Grid suffered heavy damage, leaving thousands without power. At least 22 people were killed in England and France. The highest measured gust of 117 kn (217 km/h; 135 mph) was recorded at Pointe Du Roc, Granville, France and the highest gust in the U.K. of 100 kn (190 km/h; 120 mph) was recorded at Shoreham-by-Sea.

That day’s weather reports had failed to indicate a storm of such severity, an earlier, correct forecast having been negated by later projections. The apparent suggestion by the BBC’s Michael Fish of a false alarm is celebrated as a classic gaffe, though he claims he was misquoted.

Major improvements were later implemented in atmospheric observation, relevant computer models, and the training of forecasters.

Formed: 15 October 1987
Dissipated: 16 October 1987
Lowest pressure: 953 mbar (hPa)
Highest winds: 216 km/h (134 mph)
Countries affected: France . United Kingdom . Spain . Belgium . Norway
Fatalities: 22
Damage: [UK] £2 billion (£5.073 billion today) . [FR] 23 billion francs (£7.027 billion today)

— Source: wiki/Great_Storm_of_1987
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